Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

</p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">I have been in the hobby for a year and so far I have bought 5 OS engines, from 46LA to 75AX. I am thinking about an Evolution 65. Anyone familiar with the Evolution? I noticed they are much cheaper than the OS engines. I just want to know if they are reliable, or if the lower price has to do with poorer performance.</div>Thanks

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

They have a hard chrome cylinder liner and are solid as a rock from what I have heard. I am wondering if anyone is using the 60NX in place of the OX 55AX for 3D and aerobatics....?

Thanks,

Ernie

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

Boy, you opened up a can! Personally, I think they are great and have many (12 I think) of them. All run great. Some others say they suck, but I am pretty sure most having difficulty are experiencing problems other than the engine itself or operator error. I also like Supertigres, another brand that gets poo-poo'd alot. It is OK though, I have many engines that were "bad" when I bought 'em cheap that mysteriously fixed themselves when they arrived at my house. You can, too!

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

i think they may have been improved.... years ago all i would hear/read about Evo glow engines were problems

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

There was a period where some Evo 61 and 100s engines shipped with the carb o ring missing. Also, these engines need a hot plug and that is the source of a lot of confusion.

I've bought 9 of them.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

What's a hot plug?

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

The OS #3 plug is just right. Some people will question this, but all of the Evolutions that I've heard of need this hotter glow plug. The OS #8 is too cold.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

I've only had one - the 52. 35 flights, 23 dead sticks and the excellent customer service of Horizon Hobby replaced the carb around flight 25. Still dead sticks. Used the Evo provided glow plug. Seems that the head is much ticker than an OS counterpart. That means that shorter plugs like the OS 3 or 8 will not extend into the combustion chamber whereas the Evo plug (longer like the OSF plug) will fit flush with the combustion chamber.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

In about 250 flights that I've flown in 1 year with OS engines, I experienced 1 dead stick due to empty tank.
I should think twice before I try to save $60. Planes are more expensive than that.

Thanks all for your input.
</p>

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

My 100 runs as well as all my other engines. I got it used for $100 with Pitts muffler and it wouldn't start. About an hour on the bench and it starts first flick of the stick, has great idle, screaming top-end and as smooth as transition you can ask of a 2-stroke. They key with most engines is getting the LSN and HSN set properly. I use OS A3's in all my engines along with 15% CoolPower. Alot of people shun CoolPower but my instructor was an FAI Competitor for some 20-30 years, good enough for him, good enough for me!

By the way, I've swapped that engine around on prolly 4 different planes and maybe 100 flights, not a single dead stick. It did fatten up on the low end once and I could tell immediately cuz it got kinda "boggy" when I punched it from a low RPM. No biggie, just landed, leaned LSN 1/16 turn, fired back up and took-off.

If you like tinkering with small engines there are some great deals to be had with alot of folks switchin to 4-strokes and gassers. Me, I just LOVE my little 2-strokers!!!!

Scotty

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

You hit the nail on the head about tuning, especially the lsnv. A lot of people won't adjust them.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

Ifly at 5900' - no such thing as a useable factory setting http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...ades_smile.gif

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

I've had 2 61NX's and both failed.
While the ran, they ran very well indeed.
For about 3 seasons.
Then they just pooped out.
Both engines failed in the exact same way.
They would start and idle just fine, however they would make an odd sucking sound and die when opening the throttle.
New carbs didn't help.
Glow plugs, nope.
Needle Valves, nope.
I wound up sending them both back to Horizon and they pronounced them DOA.

I have two 46's that have been doing just fine now for at least 4 seasons, but they're in trainers and don't get quite the same level of abuse as the 61's which were in my Tiger 60s.


TomC

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

What was the problem specifically? It would be a great help to us if we knew and could take preventative measures.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

These are made by the same manufacture as Magnum.  The suffer from the same quality control problems as Magnum.  My problems with Magnums and ASPs have been either metal that is too hard or too soft.  Had a trottle barrel break when adjusting the throttle arm on one, the metal was obviously too hard, probably from rushing the treatment, and on another I had the aluminum carb break when tightening the carb, seemed real soft after examining it.  Had issues with the throttle stop screw stripping out on the same carb.  But all in all not junk either, they run real good, and others have no problems.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

Hi!
All engines today are good! So you can safely buy what ever you want!
When people complain on certain engines it's mostly their own fault! Running too lean is often the main problem and this comes from that they do not know how to set their engines.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

it seems to me that the main difference in engines these days is the metallurgy. some are better quality than others but i have cheaper Magnums that run just as good as higher priced OS. I don't wanna compare cuz I don't care as long as they fly the plane. If I get a couple seasons out of an engine i feel i got my moneys worthe no matter what it cost. so JAKA is right, most engines today are fine if you can get the tuning right. just takes some time and practice. the one thing i keep in mind is "You get what you pay for". my fun-fly planes and sport planes get engine swaps all the time just to keep myself tinkering ( this is a hobby ), while my "Pride and Joy" gets the best engine I can afford for it.

Scotty

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

I have two Evolutions that I've run the living snot out of. They are the .46NT and .455TPS. The original owner of the little engine abused it more than you can imagine. I broke the 46 in hard and I always run it hard. Both put out a lot of power for engines their size, so I have to disagree with the quality control and soft/brittle metals comments. Also, I can't agree that you get what you pay for either as some brands are overpriced to the point of being crazy. A lot of people get wrong ideas about the Evo line, and many just don't know how to tune them. Horizon hurts themselves by not recommending hotter plugs and some owners don't find out.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

I have Magnum and ASPs with no problems. I think most of the time the metal is good, but QC is not as good and some badengines go out.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

I've owned one Evolution and it was a total lemon. It leaked air through the front bearing straight out of the box so it couldn't be tuned to run right. After replacing the bearings I could at least tell that needle tweaking did something, but it still gave me random dead sticks. I initially used an A3 plug and could never get a good tune on the ground, so I switched to a #8. That was better, but I still got random dead sticks with it. I know the tank plumbing was good because I checked and replaced it several times. I know the tune was good because I used a tach to set both the HSN and LSN using a variety of settings just to try and get the thing to run. I do know how to take care of glow engines as I have had Irvine, Magnum, Super Tigre, OS, and Thunder Tiger engines, both 2 stroke and 4 stroke, all of which ran fine once I tuned them right and had good plumbing going to them. The Evolution was the only engine I finally just gave up on. To be fair though, it was from the very first run of Evolutions that had a terrible reputation for reliability. Current ones are probably better.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

My 46 is a first run.

The fuel tubing from the rnv to carb should probably be replaced right away. I never trusted the green stuff.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

wow, i used to get some dead sticks on every engine i ran until i finally figured out i was too rich on the low end. Let her idle for at least 45 seconds and then PUNCH it WOT, if it dies your tooof fat. Lean on it a little at atime. 1/16 turn increments. Do it again. Running fat and slow will choke'm out everytime. High spped needle is easy but it takes patience and ground time to really tune a 2-stroker!!

"Tell em' Scotty told ya or go look for the nearest sheep!"

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

Hi,those you explained are very typical reverse run symptoms.Are you sure engines were not start reverse ? This comes from rich priming and I also have very often such a reverse start and after some playing with throttle stick without bogging it,suddenly engine jumps run right.

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

Hi!
Did you not set the low speed needle?? If an engine dies when you give throttle ...all you have to do is adjust the low speed needle!;)

RE: Are the Evolution engines reliable?
 

I have a 60 NX that has been nothing but a problem...deadsticked about 60% of the flights..I sent it back to Horizon and they replaced the bearing and HS adjuster and it seems to work better..I will never buy another...OS is a lot less hassle..